Range Extender Engines

RANGE EXTENDER ENGINES

The concept Lotus Range Extender is an extremely compact, lightweight, low-cost engine and generator, designed specifically for hybrid electric vehicles. This concept engine was fitted to the Jaguar Limo Green research vehicle.

The Lotus Range Extender is also used in the Evora 414E Reevolution and is on show in the cutaway hybrid Evora 414Evolution exhibit. The 1.3 litre, three cylinder Lotus Range Extender engine offers high efficiency and low mass, which will enable the downsizing of expensive batteries, whilst maintaining vehicle efficiency and range of hybrid electric vehicles.

Designing the engine specifically for hybrid applications has provided a number of opportunities to significantly reduce the mass of the engine. This mass optimisation has resulted in an engine weight of 58 kg for the supercharged version and 51 kg for the naturally aspirated variant.

Lotus has experience of using a hydrogen fuel cell as a range extender, in the Hydrogen Fuel Cell vehicle.